Tag: design

As a design junkie, imagine my delight at learning that Fab.com, a new flash-sale site featuring daily design deals, just launched today. Fab is a carefully curated collection of all the coolest stuff, for your home and your life, all at seriously great discounts. [don’t miss an invitation link after the jump!] I’ve been getting rid of things around my house this summer, which means that suddenly I have no lamps in the guest room and no coffee table in the game room. I’m tired of the cluttered, hand-me-down look of our space. What I really want is to...

I grew up watching The Muppet Show, but like many of us, didn’t completely get all the awesome humor until I was an adult watching it again with my kids. So when I heard that there’s a new Muppets movie on the way come November, I may have squealed louder than my kids. And, as it turns out, in honor of this new release, Threadless is teaming up to host one heckuva cool contest. It’s pretty simple. The cool site Threadless is in search of a uber cool Muppet shirt created by, well, you. They’re hosting a Muppets T-shirt...

Etsy artist Cara Taylor of Northampton, Mass makes charming and simple ceramic pieces inspired by what she likes as part of her own everyday life– and apparently we have something in common. Coffee and flowers, meet your mugs and vases. I am so digging the clean, fresh design of her new bottle seam vases. As the spring blossoms continue to flourish, you couldn’t find a more perfect way to showcase them indoors. I personally love how the hand-drawn charcoal lines create a playful undertone. Adding them to my want list, stat. –Stephanie M See Cara Taylor’s full spread of ceramic vases...

I love finding baby clothes that provide an antidote to the whole babies wear black thing. I mean look, if you can’t wear turquoise, pink and tangerine when you’re two, when can you? (Okay, maybe when you’re 70 and retiring in Palm Beach.) I’ve always loved Zutano for making unabashedly optimistic baby and kids clothes, and some of their new spring/summer patterns are just that. The spring line of baby clothes from Zutano has the sweetest candy-colored “Gumballs“ print for girls’ shorts, sunsuits, dresses, and shirts. Zutano founder and lead designer, Uli Belenky, designed the print to evoke a...

Is there anything as sweet as comforting your kid after a scrape with a smooch, a kind word, and… bandages with pictures of bloody eyeballs, dismembered fingers, and centipedes crawling out of skin? CMP covered the original Scabs Bandages a few years ago, and now they’ve got fancy new packaging and five new designs, including darker bandages to match darker skin tones. Dare I say they’re even more disgusting now? In fact, the one with maggots, spiders, and peeled-back skin actually made me feel erp. (Because I’d spent the morning in urgent care and was more squeamish as a result, not because I’m...

Recently I attended a Brooklyn mommy event and discovered one local indie kids clothing designer whose pieces were being oohed and ahhed over by eager parents. I suppose the innocent 1930s, ’40s and ’50s paper doll-inspired clothes were such a refreshingly far cry from the edgy Brooklyn fare we’re used to seeing. The designs from mom-run Dressing Em are not cheap but they are lovely–think romantic floral dresses, tailored pinafores, and 40’s era high-waisted sailor pants with accents like grosgrain ribbon trim and flower buttons. The original designs are all conceived and manufactured right in New York. I’ll be...

Know what once arrived on my doorstep bearing a vintage gold cuff, a flower hair clip, 3 pairs of earrings, a journal, 2 dozen animal-print cupcake liners, and a baggie of carrot-riding-baby cake toppers? It was a Bag O’Goodies from CMP crush Darlybird, and I only paid $16 for the lot. Now you can get one, too. Once again, for just $16, you get a cavalcade of treats totaling at least $45. Each Bag O’Goodies includes a selection of limited edition, one-of-a-kind, and generally super cute stuff ranging from jewelry to vintage ephemera to baking goods and stationery. You...

Okay, so I have a decent sized crush on designer Orla Kiely. I have only owned one of her bags which I bought with a Christmas bonus, and I wore it to death. I am holding out until my next birthday for a replacement, however her spring rhododendron pattern is really making me wish September was sooner. The Orla Kiely rhododendron bag comes in 3 colors as I have discoverd through my ebay stalking, though her website only shows granite and poppy, both stunning! And the granite is a nice alternative to black if you have trouble leaping to color,...

Anyone who knows me well knows Rose, my best friend who has held the title since her family moved onto my block the summer before second grade. It’s because of her that I have a strong respect for the role that all the BFF’s out there play in our lives. This could very well be why I connected with the backstory of Brooklyn-based design team Cary Vaughan and Jenna Wilson, a.k.a. Ace and Jig. These best friends who started as co-workers are now moms, business partners, and fashion designers that I’ve discovered through a super cool new website. [don’t...

As much as I love Threadless, I only need so many t-shirts, y’know? But it was only a matter of time before someone would realize that the model of letting the community submit artwork and then vote submissions up for production would catch on for other products, too. Like these greeting cards at Chirply Both the way the submissions and voting process work, and the wacky designs seem to take a page from my beloved crowdsourced t-shirt website, only here I can buy as many cards as I want. Because hey, there’s always a reason to send someone a card,...

I still remember when my mom painted a mural in my room. I was five, and it was a 70’s-style jungle scene. I got to help. Seven years later, I took up the muralist’s brush myself and even helped pay my rent in college by whipping up Snoopy nurseries and flower gardens and my own, 90’s style jungles. Sadly, painted murals have mostly been replaced with those clever stick-on decals, which are cheaper and easier to switch out when princesses are out and owls are in. But we’ve found a muralist taking kids’ rooms to the next level– and...

We were so honored to be this week’s guest curators at Supermarket, one of our favorite online resources for anything and everything in great design. Click over for 10 items that we’re drooling over all from indie designers–from pretty jewelry for you, to baby gifts, to a little somethin’ something’ just for you iPad fans. Maybe you’ll recognize a few items from artists you love, maybe you’ll find something totally new (and wow) to you like we did. Happy shopping! -Kristen +...

I’m a firm believer in color therapy, especially when it comes to kid’s rooms. So when I saw the bold and peppy new crib bedding sets from Maclaren, which happens to be the complete opposite of their very chic and very white nursery furniture, my mood magically began to lift. [don’t miss a huge awesome giveaway after the jump!] “If you look around at children’s bedding, it’s vastly light blue and light pink,” Maclaren’s chief designer (and modern design icon) David Netto explained to me. And who could disagree? “I wanted to create something that didn’t exist in the marketplace, which was...

We’ve panted over Noko’s baby clothes and girls’ dresses and, now the baby gear obsessed among us can covet their new unbelievably gorgeous baby blankets. Or better yet, we can buy them. I am in love with Noko’s updated traditional Japanese prints which are so absolutely beautiful. I’m especially liking Noko’s Ami baby blanket in this striking Violet Mum pattern which is both sophisticated and sweet. The blanket is reversible with a coordinating pattern that is elegant and photo op-ready. Plus the square shape makes it perfect for swaddling and the soft, 100% Cotton knit is ideal for newborns....

My heart skips a beat when a new shelter magazine arrives in the mail, but ten minutes of flipping through the pages usually leaves me wanting more. The houses are too perfect, too expected and too completely out of touch with my life and my very imperfect house. Christiane Lemieux, founder of DwellStudio, gets it with her new book, Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design. Undecorate features twenty houses from around the country that, although very different from each other, share a common thread of being chic, personal and exciting. Each house looks lived in by real people....

Usually, when I hear the words “geometry” or “polymer clay,” I start daydreaming about cupcakes until the conversation comes back around to something I dig. Like cupcakes. But as soon as I saw the cool jewelry by nomilktoday, I perked right up. Originally, I thought they were made of paper origami, which wouldn’t last. Nope. It’s polymer clay, and it’s bizarrely elegant and cool. Each of these pieces is created of hand-cut and textured polymer clay by nomilktoday‘s Eva from Athens, Greece. We haven’t actually seen one live, but the feedback at her Etsy shop is 100% positive and...

I’m a sucker for designer collaborations, so when I heard Converse was partnering with Finnish design house Marimekko for the Converse Hearts Marimekko limited edition collection, I kicked off my All-Stars and ran to the computer to check out the offerings. I’ve always loved Marimekko’s bold geometric prints and bright hues, probably a residual effect from growing up sleeping on their pillowcases. If you’re a plain white Keds type, then these are probably not the kicks for you. But seeing as how I like to wear my flair on my feet (probably explains my affinity for leopard-print ballet flats),...

I’ve found the degree to which children love ride-on toys seems to be in inverse proportion to how ugly they look in your living room. Cute sleek and modern? Eh. Big, shiny and plastic? Home run! But now there’s one that my kids will love just as much as I’d love looking at it. The Metal Speedcar Racer is one stunner of a ride-on toy. This 1930’s era replica is low-maintenance, it doesn’t guzzle gas, and it’s a snap to parallel park. Plus there’s no passenger seat, meaning your kid will never get stuck with carpool duty. It’s all...

Attention all you picky handbag ladies, daughters of picky handbag ladies, sisters or nieces of picky handbag ladies. –yeah you. You know who you are. Behold the brilliance of the design-your-own handbag line from boston Etsy seller Eclu. If you’re already starting to think Mother’s Day, this is a neat shop to have on the radar. The platinum peony clutch would happen to look awesome with my own mom’s naturally silver hair. Not your style? The cool thing with a design-your-own handbag line is that you’ve got other options. You choose the colors inside and out, the style of...

Even though I spend a good portion of my time with two people under three feet high who would just as soon chew a shoe than appreciate the fabulosity of a truly cool pair, I refuse to have anything less than awesome on my toes. And, like most shoe-loving mamas, I don’t have time to hunt for the perfect pair. But, thanks to this amazing site, now I can design my own. Milk & Honey Shoes has become my newest obsession. The smart brainchild of two sisters, the site lets you design your own shoes in every possible combination. Peep-toe, three-inch...